It is known in the art to transport cylindrical cargo items with a significantly smaller diameter than length that are unsuitable for a “standing” transport, lying horizontally and typically in plural layers stacked on top of one another, wherein the number of the cargo items disposed in one layer adjacent to one another decreases from the lowest layer to the top layer. The reason is that the cylindrical cargo objects of an upper layer are disposed in the free spaces of a layer disposed there under, so that they are respectively supported on two cargo items of the layer disposed there under.
The unfavorable ratio of transport volume required to actual transport volume provided. Thus, the ratio gross/net, which becomes even more unfavorable as more layers are stacked on top of one another, is a disadvantage of the known transport units identified above. Namely in the known type of stacking certain free spaces are left unused at the edges of the layers other than the lowest layer.
From DE 20 2009 000 365 U1 a transport unit of this type is known, in which the layers arranged on top of one another include the same number of cargo items, wherein the cargo items of the upper layer are still positioned in the free spaces of a layer respectively positioned there under. Therefore, the particular layers are always laterally offset relative to the adjacent layers. This is achieved in that the cargo items of a respective layer are respectively connected with tension devices at their faces, so that they are connected to form a disc. Though cargo items can be transported in this manner with significantly better gross/net ratio, however the width of the transport unit thus obtained is larger due to the second and possibly also fourth layer laterally protruding beyond the lowest layer, so that the transport unit is not suitable for transport devices with a limited width.
In order to be able to transport cargo items arranged adjacent to one another in plural layers arranged precisely on top of one another, pallets with rounded cut-outs or concave indentations are known in the art, wherein the rounded cut-outs or concave indentations are arranged below the first layer and also between two layers of cargo items. However, since differently configured pallets are required for different roll diameters a plurality of different pallets has to be stored, which causes large storage space requirements. Furthermore, this type of arranging cargo items is detrimental, since the diameters typically do not fit exactly into the concave indentations of the pallets, so that the cargo items have certain clearance in the indentations and can rock slightly. Consequently, a transport unit thus configured is not as stable as a unit configured as a block. Eventually, it is also detrimental for the pallets recited supra that the positioning is time-consuming and they cannot be sufficiently cleaned from dust and contamination, which is in particular detrimental when transporting sensitive materials.